Sir Martin Sorrell, the influential board member of Formula 1 shareholders CVC Capital Partners, has criticised the sport's commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone for his support of Flavio Briatore.
Ecclestone said in the build-up to the Singapore Grand Prix that Briatore should appeal against his lifetime ban from F1 for his involvement in fixing the result of last year's race. He claimed that the punishment handed down on Briatore was too harsh, which was why the former Renault team principal should try and get his penalty reduced.
That stance has annoyed Sorrell, who told the Daily Mail that he believed Ecclestone's comments - just months after he caused a media furore for pro-Adolf Hitler remarks – were damaging for the sport.
"First, we had Hitler did good, now we have cheating is acceptable," said Sorrell. "Where will it end? His latest comments are yet another example, I'm afraid, of Bernie being totally out of touch with reality."